Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 The 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours
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During that pitstop, Badey replaced Gommendy in the TDS ORECA. He sits behind Berthon, who - like leader LMP2 Bradley - is yet to pit.
Could team-mate Karun Chandhok's Formula E experience be helping with the Murphy entry's fuel consumption?
What we've learned at Le Mans so far
Could team-mate Karun Chandhok's Formula E experience be helping with the Murphy entry's fuel consumption?
What we've learned at Le Mans so far
The #19 Porsche of Hulkenberg and the #9 Audi of Bonanomi head into the pits.
Lotterer took three seconds out of Bernhard with that stunning 3m18s lap. He now leads by 7.6s over the Porsche that had the first hour or so under control.
Twitter
@Audi__Sport: "New track record (race) for No. 7 @Andre_Lotterer in 3m 18.865s."
The Audi heads back out after taking on just fuel, but the Porsche stays in for tyres and a driver change, with Tandy taking over from Hulkenberg.
Tandy has taken over the #19 Porsche from Hulkenberg, while Bonanomi stays in the #9 Audi.
The #8 Audi of Duval is now due in.
Having his first stint in the Signatech Apline, Pancianatici has taken fourth place from Lancaster, who's still in the Greaves Gibson he started.
Twitter
@FerrariRaces: "#LeMans Bad luck for #55 @AFCorse running very slow with a blown tyre. Duncan Cameron is driving #Readyforcomeback."
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That driver change cost the #19 Porsche 19 seconds to the #9 Audi, which kept Bonanomi at the wheel.
Here comes Duval, stopping the #8 Audi after a rapid inlap.
GARY WATKINS: Bonanomi has stayed in for a fourth stint on the tyres in the Audi and Porsche has changed drivers and sent Tandy on his way on new Michelins. That' s exactly what we expected — Audi doing quadruples and Porsche triples.
Both cars did 13 laps on the fuel. Whether Porsche will stretch its stints to 14 laps, as its rivals have been predicting, is still an unknown.
Both cars did 13 laps on the fuel. Whether Porsche will stretch its stints to 14 laps, as its rivals have been predicting, is still an unknown.
The #7 Audi that leads in the hands of Lotterer is due in this lap, as is the #2 Toyota of Wurz.
Thiim's being caught quite rapidly by Stanaway now. The gap was 10s+ but is now 8s and falling.
Mucke's all over Fisichella for third.
Mucke's all over Fisichella for third.
Lotterer brings the #7 in after a hot inlap, and a ruthless chop around a backmarker at the pit entry. Fuel only for this Audi, too.
Pitstop and driver change for LMP2 leader KCMG. Bradley is out, Lapierre is in.
The #17 Porsche leads, with the #18 Porsche up to second now that the Audi has pitted. #18, driven by Jani, is due in this lap.
Wurz pits the #2 Audi from P8, having fallen more than 1m30s off the lead before coming in.
GARY WATKINS: It's triples also for Toyota. Certainly no surprise there, because that they told us they were going to do.
Another slow time from Thiim, in the 4m01s again, and Stanaway is just 6.6s behind.
Christensen's slowly getting the Porsche back to a respectable distance from the next GTE Pro car, which is the #64 Corvette.
Christensen's slowly getting the Porsche back to a respectable distance from the next GTE Pro car, which is the #64 Corvette.
Sarrazin takes over the #2 Toyota from Wurz.
As expected, Jani is in in the #18 Porsche from second place. The tyres are being changed and Lieb takes over.
Buemi hands over the #1 Toyota to Davidson. It's all about staying in reach for Toyota in the hope of things going wrong for Audi and Porsche.
The leading #17 Porsche will pit this lap.
The Riley Motorsports Viper has stealthily made its way into the lead of GTE Am. Top stuff, Jeroen Bleekemolen.
GP2 ace Mitch Evans is now in the race, taking over Jota Sport's recovery after the earlier gear selection problem.
Evans is making his Le Mans 24 Hour debut with the reigning LMP2 victor and while he’s the first member of his family to feature in the race, he's not the first to lap here.
"My father [Owen] had a passion for motorsport and still holds the New Zealand Land Speed Record (217mph)," Evans said pre-race.
"He qualified for the 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours but after the test day, crashed heavily while attempting to better the record just before the 24 hour race.
"His heart stopped beating seven times, had a fractured skull, broken ribs causing both lungs to collapse, fractured his left leg and knee, and his left arm was almost severed requiring two months in hospital.
"So it will be good to finally get the Evans name in the Le Mans race.”
The Gibson is 13th in LMP2, about a lap-and-a-half down.
Evans is making his Le Mans 24 Hour debut with the reigning LMP2 victor and while he’s the first member of his family to feature in the race, he's not the first to lap here.
"My father [Owen] had a passion for motorsport and still holds the New Zealand Land Speed Record (217mph)," Evans said pre-race.
"He qualified for the 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours but after the test day, crashed heavily while attempting to better the record just before the 24 hour race.
"His heart stopped beating seven times, had a fractured skull, broken ribs causing both lungs to collapse, fractured his left leg and knee, and his left arm was almost severed requiring two months in hospital.
"So it will be good to finally get the Evans name in the Le Mans race.”
The Gibson is 13th in LMP2, about a lap-and-a-half down.
Car #96, that's the GTE Am Aston, has been reported to the stewards for not respecting the pit entry.
Hartley takes over the #17 Porsche from Bernhard, who led the early part of the race before Lotterer picked things up after the safety car and made Porsche pay.
The #7 Audi, which unlike the Porsches is yet to complete a driver or tyre change, now leads by 28s as a result of its faster stop.
The #7 Audi, which unlike the Porsches is yet to complete a driver or tyre change, now leads by 28s as a result of its faster stop.
So in the last round of pitstops, all three Audis continued onto a quadruple stint, with Lotterer, Duval and Bonanomi staying aboard.
Both Porsche and Toyota took fresh tyres, Davidson (#1) and Sarrazin (#2) took over the Toyotas and Hartley (#17) and Lieb (#18) got into the Porsches.
A stop for tyres/new driver takes around 16 or 17 seconds longer, usually.
Both Porsche and Toyota took fresh tyres, Davidson (#1) and Sarrazin (#2) took over the Toyotas and Hartley (#17) and Lieb (#18) got into the Porsches.
A stop for tyres/new driver takes around 16 or 17 seconds longer, usually.
GARY WATKINS: So the strategy cycle is (for the moment): Audi 13 laps on the fuel and quadruple stints on the tyres; Porsche 13 laps and triples; and the same for Toyota.
Breaking news
No further action on the incident between the #92 Porsche, Strakka LMP2 and #13 Rebellion LMP1.
What's going on here? Lotterer is pitting the #7 Audi from the lead, way off schedule.
Two decent laps from Thiim have stopped Stanaway hacking into his lead, but the gap is eroding – down to under five seconds now.
Treluyer takes over the leading car, which takes tyres this time, having made its most-recent scheduled stop only three laps ago.
Stopwatch
With a new fastest lap in LMP2 - 3m39.704s, a second faster than Bird's earlier benchmark - Lapierre has extended KCMG's lead to 37 seconds. He was three seconds faster than second-placed Badey that last time around.
That's hurt the #7 car (obviously). Treluyer rejoins 6th, so Hartley now leads in the #17 Porsche from Lieb in the #18.
Twitter
@Audi__Sport: "Lap 41, 17.35h Fuel, tires after puncture, @Andre_Lotterer out, @BenoitTreluyer in"
Some excellent times being set in the GTE Pro ranks at present but Fisichella's consistency is a sight to behold.
The last three laps as he edged clear of the #97 Aston:
2m57.867s
2m57.877s
2m57.839s
OK, he's not winning us over with feisty underdog performances in a Jordan, but he's still pretty quick.
The last three laps as he edged clear of the #97 Aston:
2m57.867s
2m57.877s
2m57.839s
OK, he's not winning us over with feisty underdog performances in a Jordan, but he's still pretty quick.
Current LMP1 order:
1 #17 Porsche
2 #18 Porsche, +13.1s
3 #8 Audi, +17.0s
4 #9 Audi, +18.0s
5 #19 Porsche, +20.2s
6 #7 Audi, +35.5s
The Toyotas are +1m34s (#1) and +1m56s (#2)
1 #17 Porsche
2 #18 Porsche, +13.1s
3 #8 Audi, +17.0s
4 #9 Audi, +18.0s
5 #19 Porsche, +20.2s
6 #7 Audi, +35.5s
The Toyotas are +1m34s (#1) and +1m56s (#2)
Stopwatch
Lapierre goes faster again in the KCMG ORECA, this time around it's 3m39.278s compared to Badey's 3m40.998s and the lead is almost 40 seconds. Admittedly with some cars having pitted, only seven cars remain on the lead LMP2 lap.
By: Scott Mitchell, AUTOSPORT staff, Mitchell Adam, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins
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